Captain James Tiberius Kirk is not only one of the most famous captains to ever command the USS Enterprise, but he's also one of the most iconic figures in science fiction history. With William Shatner's charm and signature acting style, Captain Kirk became a hero known around the world when he starred in the original Star Trek series.
The Star Trek franchise has boldly gone where no one anticipated it would go since the '60s, when Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Scotty, and Co. began their five-year mission to explore "the final frontier" of space. Though the series wasn't on for more than a few seasons, Kirk would lead his crew on some daring missions on the small and big screen. Being a popular captain didn't always mean he was the brightest, and his methods often got the crew into more scrapes than it got them out of. Here are 10 memes celebrating Kirk's particular brand of logic.
FEELING CUTE
Captain Kirk comes from a long line of captains that have chosen their own moral compass over Starfleet regulations. If something doesn't sit well with James Kirk, he goes with his gut, not the opinions of the brass. This includes telling the Prime Directive to kiss a Klingon because you can't boldly go without being willing to get a little dirty.
Kirk almost never met a pre-warp civilization he didn't want to mess with. He's been known to weaponize hunter-gatherer societies, romance the women of any and all civilizations, and get involved in turf wars between civilizations that would compare to the Neolithic period peoples of Earth. Why was Kirk never demoted you're wondering? Too cute to prosecute.
ALL'S FAIR IN GUNS AND PEACE
Kirk has been credited with being one of the most tactical captains in the Star Trek franchise, outside of Captain Benjamin Sisko and maybe Captain Pike. He wasn't afraid to fire his phaser first and ask questions later. In fact, there are more shots of Kirk with some manner of ray-gun than any other captain, earning him the reputation for being something of a "space cowboy."
Sometimes that sort of action-oriented gun-slinging is necessary, especially since space is the "final frontier." Even if a mission was supposed to be peaceful, Kirk was always vigilant, willing to use weapons if necessary. Things would get a little more diplomatic with Captain Picard, but there were reasons he called on Kirk in Star Trek Generations.
PENETRATION
In some ways, it's amusing that Captain Kirk had so much beef with the Klingons since they basically have the same life philosophy. See a Romulan? Punch it. See a Khan? Punch him. See a barrier around the Milky Way that no starship has ever been able to penetrate? Punch it. Of course, Klingons killed Kirk's son, so the bad blood makes sense.
When Captain Kirk and Co. came across the Milky Way's barrier, Kirk was under the impression that, if they gunned it hard enough, the Enterprise could make it through. Unfortunately, despite his can-do attitude that just wasn't the case, causing massive engine and power failure. Apparently rerouting all auxiliary power to the main thrusters just wasn't enough.
OVER YOUR DEAD BODY
The era of classic Star Trek in the '60s cemented some of the greatest Star Trek humor to ever be shared among science fiction fans. The original series introduced the concept of colored uniforms conveying departments around a starship, such as blue representing medical or science personnel, and gold designating authority or security. Red often signified an unnamed crew member that wasn't going to survive the episode.
In order to add some dramatic tension to episodes where main characters were involved but couldn't be killed, "Red Shirts" were put into the background, able to be senselessly killed off to indicate high stakes but not bring too much danger to the main cast. Kirk was never in danger as long as he was surrounded by Red Shirts.
YES, YOU KHAN!
The Wrath of Khan is generally regarded as one of the best Star Trek films ever made. An Admiral in the film, Kirk is presiding over Starfleet cadets when he gets word that the planet-creating Genesis Device is being used, with the possibility of causing massive waves of destruction. At the root of the danger is Khan, an enemy Kirk thought he'd never face again.
Khan is played with fiendish eloquence by Ricardo Montalbán, who captures several of Kirk's officers and holds them, hoping to draw Kirk out. Over a radio exchange, he coolly purrs to Kirk what the fate of him and his comrades will be, and all Kirk can do is scream the immortal line, "KHAAAAAAAAN!"
SCREAMING WORKS
For a machine that can wipe out entire star systems, the NOMAD isn't all that much to look at. In the Star Trek universe, it's the equivalent of the Death Star from Star Wars, except it looks like a blender. It decided that humans and all extraterrestrial life were inefficient and thus decided to destroy them based on that assumption.
Kirk screamed at it for five minutes that its logic was faulty, that its computations were wrong, because, "Humans are good, dammit. Kirk made the Nomad believe it had made an error, causing the machine to self-destruct because - well - it's the inefficient life form now.
KIRK VS. PICARD
Captain Picard is often lauded as a captain that does everything exactly according to Starfleet regulations, although this isn't necessarily true. He's been known to violate the Prime Directive a time or ten. However, Kirk is infamous for getting Starfleet caught up in issues that don't concern it or the crew of the Enterprise.
This is because Kirk goes by his gut instinct and his own code of ethics (suspiciously missing during the Kobayashi Maru scenario). If the objective can be accomplished, that's all that matters, not the way in which it's done. Kirk believes there is never a "no-win" scenario and therefore, will ignore Starfleet "guidelines" unless it makes him victorious.
FIRST CONTACT
Without a doubt, in Star Trek history, Kirk is the person to remove his shirt the most. Out of any series, he takes the crown of beefcake. Whether he's wrestling with an alien, imprisoned, forced to take part in a ritualistic sacrifice, or engaging in first contact with the Gamesters of Triskelion, it seems like it's always a good time to remove his shirt.
Sometimes Kirk's shirt isn't completely removed - it's just strategically torn, hanging open just enough to show off some golden chest fuzz. Even if his shirts weren't torn, it didn't really matter, because, in the original Star Trek, he wore a skin-tight lycra uniform, at least until it got a little too snug in his later years.
KIRK RIDES AGAIN
In Star Trek Generations, the passing of the torch occurs between Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise-D and Captain Kirk of the original starship. As the captain in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Picard metaphorically took the reins from Kirk.
In order to stop Soran, a disaster survivor trying to enter a cosmic energy field and reverse his ship from being destroyed, Picard must get Kirk out of the field where he's been trapped. This makes some sense until you realize Picard could have gone back in time to prevent the deaths of his brother and nephew as well, which seem to weigh on him heavily throughout the film.
THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES
Most Star Trek episodes follow a very simple formula; there are A and B plots. While one is being followed, the other keeps popping up, until a third of the way through the episode, the two cannot be ignored and must each be dealt with in a way that mutually resolves both of them.
This occurs in the infamous "Trouble with Tribbles" episode, where so many of the little intergalactic fluff balls invade the Enterprise that Kirk forgot all about the original objective to guard the Quadrotriticale, a genetically engineered hybrid of wheat that tribbles find especially tasty.